DURBAN – Sikhumbuzo Notshe’s friendships with his former Stormers teammates will be put on hold for 80 minutes at Jonsson Kings Park for the big SA Super Rugby derby on Saturday – instead he will be focusing on his new mates, the in-form No 8 said.
Notshe went straight to the Cape union from matric at Wynberg Boys’ High, going on to play 68 Currie Cup games for Western Province and 58 for the Stormers before his career hit a crossroads last year, and he made the bold move of relocating to Durban.
“How did I know you guys were going to ask me about playing my old team,” Notshe said after team training yesterday.
“Of course I have given it a lot of thought and I know exactly how I will approach this one.
“I want to keep a very cool head. If you go into a game with a lot of emotions you are just going to drain yourself and you are not going to perform well.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/OurSharks?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OurSharkstake on the DHL Stormers in their second South African derby of the Vodacom Super Rugby season 🏉
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— The Sharks (@TheSharksZA)
“So I am going to try and keep the emotions out of it and focus on my teammates rather than my mates.
“Yes they are my mates – I created relationships in the Stormers camp, I can’t run away from that, but I have new mates at the Sharks and I need to focus on them.”
The Stormers will no doubt be keeping an eye on Notshe, but more because of the exhilarating form he has been in this year.
He has flourished in the exciting brand of rugby the Sharks are playing and appears to have a new lease on life.
“I guess it has been an ideal career move,” Notshe said.
“I think it was perfect timing for me.
“At age 26, you don’t get lot of these career moves these days, and I have managed to pay back (to the Sharks) by delivering the way I have.
“I am really excited about the Sharks and what they are doing.
“Very excited indeed because I am suited to the linking style of rugby they are playing.
“Also there is the physical side of the game that I have improved on.
“Over the years, I was questioned for that aspect of my play - but I think I have shown that side of my game is really good at the moment.”
Notshe said that his intimate knowledge of the Stormers is not going to help the Sharks beat them. Rather, he says, there are areas of the Sharks’ own game that will do the business.
“To beat the Stormers, we have to do the small things right,” he said.
“Tight games like this one are about the small margins, not the big things like the effort stuff.
“I am talking about areas of the game that don’t require talent - like falling on the ball first, showing that urgency to get to the breakdowns and the tackle.
“It is the kind of thing that the crowd won’t see.
“Those things matter – the big things like the tries will come if we do the small things right first.”